Switch for telephone-circuits



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G L ANDERS & T A WATSON Switches for Telephone Circuits. NO. 229,299.

Patented June 29, 1880 fi :5 MW

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G. L. ANDERS 8v I; A. WATSON. Switches for Telephone Circuits.

No. 229,299. Patented June 29, 1880.

I -1( )6 Raw/Lab. @zwrwzy N. PETERS, PHOTO-LJIMOGRAPMER, wAsHING'Ton, 0c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

V GEORGE L. ANDERS, OF-BOSTON, AND THOMAS A. WATSON, OF EVERETT,

MASSACHUSETTS.

SW ITCH FOR TELEPHONE-CIRCUITS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 229,299, dated June 29,1880. Application filed December 12. 1879.

phone-switches which form a support for the telephone, and which, whenthe telephone is "removed from its support for use, are moved to oneside or the other for the purpose of establishing an earth-connectionthrough the telephone with line in or line out, and

which are automatically restored to their normal position by the weightof the telephone when the latter is replaced upon its support.

In telephone-switches of this class, as heretofore constructed, theelectrical contacts at the switch when the telephone is not in use areeffected by the weight of the telephone, and when the telephone is inuse the electrical contacts are effected by theforce of the spring,which is overcome when the telephone is replaced upon its support, andwhich, consequently, must act with less force than the weight of thetelephone.

This improvement consists in effecting all the electrical contacts bythe action of springs or their equivalent, which act on opposite sidesof the switch-lever to return the latter to its normal position, inwhich line in and line out are connected, in holding said lever inposition by means of a latch when the lever hasbeen moved by hand to oneside or the other to establish an earth-connection, and in causing thereplacement of the telephone upon its support to automatically effectthe release of the switch from the latch and the return of the switch toits normal position.

In the accompanying drawings a switch is shown which embodies thisimprovement, and in these drawings I Figure l is a view, in perspective,of the block whichsupports the switch, and of the telephone hook orsupport and the latch for the same, and also of the alarm-bell. Fig. 2is plan view of the switch and its connections. Fig. 3 is a diagramshowing the mannor of arranging the connections when one pole of thetelephone is connected to earth; and

of which the following is a.

Fig. at is a diagram showing the manner of arranging the connectionswhen one pole of the telephone is connected to the line on one side andthe other pole of the telephone is connected to the line on the otherside; and Fig. 5 is a diagram showing the position of the switch whenmoved to one side.

In these several figures the same letters refer to the same parts.

Referring to the drawings, A is an alarmbell of the usual construction,which is supported on a block, B, of some suitablenon-conductingmaterial, and upon this block are placed the plates of thelightning-arrester (3.

D is a metallic lever, which is pivoted upon the under side of thisblock, and has a projection, a a, on each side. Between theseprojections is fixed to the lever a block, E, of some suitableinsulating material, and to this block E is fixed a plate of metal, F,the surface of which rises above the ends of the projections.

G G are two U-shaped metallic springs, and H H are two pieces of metal,one of which is connected to the line in and the other to the line out.Each of the springs G G is secured by one end to one of these blocks, respectively, and the other and free ends of these springs bear upon theface of the metal plate F, and consequently, when the lever is\in itsnormal position, as shown in Fig. 2, the rel?- cuit is completed throughthe springs and the plate F; but when the lever is turned to one side orthe other, one of the projections 11 makes contact with one of thesprings and lifts its end from the plate F, as shown in Fig. 5, therebybreaking the electrical connection with the other spring andestablishing an electrical connection with the lever D. By the pressureof the springs on-each side of the lever all the electrical contacts arefirmly made and with a rubbing contact. This lever is either connectedto one pole of the telephone, as shown in the diagram Fig. 3, or toearth, as shown in the diagram Fig. 4, in which diagrams a transmitterand local battery are represented as used with the telephone, and, forthe purposes of simplicity, the lightnin g-arrester is represented asplaced between the alarm-bell and the switch.

When the connections are arranged as shown in Fig. 3 the upper surfaceof the insulatingblock E must rise above the upper surface of theprojections a a, so that when the lever D is moved either to one side orthe other the connection between the springs G G will be broken beforeeither of the projections to a strike the corresponding spring. Theobject of this is to prevent the switch from being held in a positionwhere a branch circuit will be made through the telephone to earthwithout breaking the main line, or, in other words, without breaking theconnection between the springs G G.

When the connections are arranged as shown in Fig. 4 it is essentialthat when the lever D is moved to either one side or the other theprojection a on that side should come into firm contact with thecorresponding spring G before the con n eetion between these two springsis broken. This result will be accomplished if the upper surface of theinsulating-block E is lower than the upper surfaces of the projections(6 a, and therefore when the switch is connected as shown in Fig. 4 itis so constructed.

I is the hook or support for the telephone, which, in this instrument,is pivoted to the lever D, and K is a plate of metal fixed to the blockB, and provided with two notches, b 7), into one of which this hook isplaced when the telephone is removed, according to the side to which thelever is moved, as shown in full lines on Fig. 1. This hook is kept inplace in this notch by the pressure caused by the action on the lever Dof that one of the springs G which bears upon the correspondingprojection of said lever when the lever is moved to one side or theother; but when the telephone is replaced on the support its weightdisengages it from the notch, and the force of the spring restores thelever to its normal position.

In carrying this invention in'o effect the telephone book or supportneed not necessarily be attached to the lever D, but may be detachedfrom the same; and the notched plate K may be dispensed with, and thetelephone hook or support be so constructed as to form a latch t'or theswitch when it is moved either to one side or the other; or, in fact,any form of latch may be used which will hold the switch in positionwhen it is moved to one side or the other from its normal position andfrom which it will be automatically released when the telephone isreplaced upon its support.

In carrying this invention into effect we do not confine ourselves tosprings of the particular form shown or to a switch lever constructed inthe manner described, as the object of our invention may be accomplishedby other forms or arrangements of springs, or even by weighted levers,and by a lever of another construction adapted to these springs.

WVhen this switch is used with a transmittingtelephone which isconnected with a local battery, the plate'K may be used to close thecircuit from this battery through the transmitter when the lever D islatched on either side. This is accomplished by connecting one terminalof the local-battery circuit to the lever D and the other terminal tothe plate I]? as shown in dotted lines in the diagram,

To do not in this application claim a switch which forms part of themain line, and which when moved serves to break the main line andconnect either line in or line out to an earth-branch; but

What we claim as our-invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patentof the United States, is

1. A telephone-switch which, in its normal position, forms part of themain-line circuit, and is capable of being forced into a position toconnect the telephone to either line in or line out, as may be desired,where it is held by means of a latch or its equivalent against a forcetending to throw the switch back to its normal position and resisted bythe latch when the telephone is ott' from its hook or support and incircuit, and from which latch the said switch is automatically releasedand returned to its normal position by replacing the telephone on itssupport, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination, with a telephone-switch, ot' a latching device forholding the switch in position when the latter is moved to either oneside or the other to establish a connection of the telephone of line inor line out, which latching device resists a force tending to throw theswitch back to its normal position, and is released by the weight of thetelephone when the latter is replaced on its support, substantially asand for the purpose set forth.

3. In combination with the pivoted lever D, the springs G G, or theirequivalents, connected, respectively, to line in and line out, whichsprings, when the lever D is in the position which it has when thetelephone is on its support, are electrically connected,

and, according as the lever is moved to one side or the other,respectively bear upon said lever, so as to connect the same to eitherline in or line out, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4.. The combination of the springs G G, the lever D, theinsulating-block E, the conducting-plate F, and the projections to a onsaid lever, the telephone-support I, pivoted to said lever, and theplate K, provided with the notches b I), substantially as and for thepurpose set forth.

5. The combination, with the telephone-support I, forming one terminalof the local-battery circuit of a transmitter, of the plate K, forming alatch for the telephone-support and the other terminal of thelocal-battery circuit, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in presence of thesubscribing witnesses.

GEORGE L. ANDERS. THOMAS A. WATSON.

Witnesses:

ALEX. L. HAYES, ARTHUR E. ANDREW.

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